Geopolitics in Focus After Gold Sees Third Week of Gains

APMEX

10/22/2018 8:47:06 AM

Daily Gold & Silver Market Report – 10/22/2018

• Gold readies for a fourth-straight week of gains.
• Developing countries turn to Gold as a safe haven.
• Blockchain may soon be key to Precious Metals authentication.

Following three weeks of gains for Gold spot prices, market analysts will keep a sharp eye on the geopolitical climate and equity markets during the coming week. Several significant announcements are expected this week that could have a bearing on Precious Metals markets, offering signals as to whether there will be another week of support for Gold. The bullion traded only slightly up Friday after a somewhat volatile week. According to a report on Investing.com, December futures were also up, ending at $1,230.00 on the New York Mercantile Exchange COMEX Division at the end of trading Friday.

On Monday, Canada is scheduled to release wholesale sales numbers, followed by remarks from Governor of the Bank of England on Tuesday. The eurozone is expected to deliver key facts about the private sector Wednesday. Also slated for mid-week, U.S. new home sales will be released, with durable goods and jobless claims data following Thursday. Many analysts, however, will be squarely focused on Friday, when the U.S. releases initial data on growth for the third quarter and overall consumer sentiment in America. Dollar strength and consumer confidence are traditional barometers for predicting the price of Gold, as safe-haven investments like Precious Metals increase in demand during uncertain financial times.

Budding Economies Move from Dollar Assets to Gold

It was reported in August that Russia and China have been stockpiling Gold in 2018. As the year has gone by and global economic tensions continue to escalate, many other countries with emerging economies are turning away from investments in the U.S. dollar. According to the Eurasia Review, many are in fact turning to Gold. In the article, one analyst observed at the beginning of the year, many developing countries were among the first to suffer from investor panic due to feuding among the world’s largest economies. These economies, including India, Poland, Hungary and Turkey, felt the need to look for investments other than the U.S. dollar and felt pressure to increase their Gold reserves.

Gold Bullion Could Soon Be Tracked by Blockchain

The London Bullion Market Association, a global authority in the Gold trade, announced plans to set standard regulations for blockchain-based bullion tracking. Members of the LBMA include many of the biggest miners, producers and sellers of Gold. As reported by Bitcoinist, the plans will include the formation of an oversight committee that would authenticate and watch providers of the technology. Due to increasing scarcity and substantially high values, ethical sourcing of Precious Metals grows more critical every day. Technology such as blockchain, if used to prove the origin of Gold products, has the ability to discourage counterfeiting, smuggling and theft. Earlier this year, LBMA openly sought proposals for how to monitor the supply chain of Gold. Out of 26 submissions, 20 utilized blockchain technologies in some way.

At 9:39 a.m. (ET), the APMEX Gold and Silver spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,224.10  Down $4.20
• Silver, $14.63 Down $0.09
• Platinum, $826.40 Down $9.60
• Palladium, $1,102.90  Up $19.50

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